Outside groups fail in Illinois

The two Illinois congressional candidates who got the most help from outside groups were throttled Tuesday night, leaving both ends of the political spectrum scratching their heads.

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On the right, the tea party was chastened in the wake of the resounding defeat of Rep. Donald Manzullo, who trumpeted endorsements from 14 different conservative interest groups.

And on the left, progressives were stunned by the 8-point drubbing of Ilya Sheyman, the youthful former MoveOn.org organizer who had the enthusiastic backing of top national liberal interests.

“I think this made a very strong statement. They came in and tried to meddle in a race, … and this says the people in the 16th District are going to listen to their heart; they’re going to listen to the over 70 elected officials who endorsed me in this district and not to Washington outside groups,” Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger told POLITICO in an interview.

Kinzinger easily disposed of Manzullo by 12 percentage points, but he was aided by a super PAC with ties to former aides of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and six-figure spending by the anti-incumbent Campaign for Primary Accountability, so not all outside muscle was a loser.

Looking to unite the party for a competitive contest against GOP Rep. Robert Dold, Brad Schneider, a management consultant and favorite of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in the 10th District, dodged a question about the impact of liberal groups in his primary on Wednesday.

“We also knew that negative messaging sometimes has an impact,” said Schneider. “We stayed positive, and that helped.”

With both viewed as marginal underdogs heading into Tuesday, the twin victories by Schneider and Kinzinger will undoubtedly cast fresh doubts about the practical punch outside groups pack.

Schneider’s pragmatic approach earned sustained fire from the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, MoveOn.org and Democracy for America, all of which assisted Sheyman with fundraising and get-out-the-vote efforts. Framed as a tea party turncoat, Kinzinger was attacked by groups like FreedomWorks, the Illinois Tea Party and the American Conservative Union.

But in the end, the polling was wrong as the two establishment candidates prevailed. And it wasn’t even close.

“I work for you, and I will not answer to these insider out-of-touch organizations,” Kinzinger said to rousing applause Tuesday night at his victory speech.

Groups from both ideological corners were assessing what went wrong this week. In both races, they cited narratives that weren’t as clear as they had hoped.

Kinzinger’s youth, bountiful energy and accessibility made it difficult to brand him as the status quo, even though FreedomWorks maintains that his voting record proves he is.

“I think there was voter confusion. The dynamics were confusing. The optics were, you had a longtime incumbent and someone youthful but also on the wrong side of issues,” said FreedomWorks Chief Operating Officer Ryan Hecker.